MODELING WOOD MOISTURE SORPTION HYSTERESIS BASED ON SIMILARITY HYPOTHESIS - PART II - CAPILLARY-RADII APPROACH

The applicability of Mualem's capillary-radii model to wood moisture s orption hysteresis is evaluated. The model further simplifies the pred iction of sorption hysteresis in that scanning curves can be obtained from the moisture content and relative humidity data of the boundary i sotherms, with no other intermediate parameters needed. A comparison o f predicted moisture contents with actual experimental data points for yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) indicates that the model cons istently underestimates the primary desorption scanning isotherms, wit h errors ranging from -0.01 to -1.31. These prediction errors are slig htly larger than those obtained from an earlier model based on Mualem' s direct similarity hypothesis.